Silly question

[pendragon]

How do you pronounce "Betta"?

I've always pronounced it with a 'soft' E - as in wet. I know a couple other fishkeepers who I've heard say it like this.

The overwhelming majority of people, and all non-fishkeeping laymen that I know, pronounce the E like a 'hard' A - as in way. So it sounds like Beta, the letter of the Greek alphabet. Betta being latin (isn't it?), it doesn't seem right to me to say it like this. I have a betta in a 10-gallon tank in my office, and everyone who comes by says, "Oh! You have a baaay-tuh!" Drives me nuts, I tell you, but I resist the compulsion to explain that I don't pronounce it like that.

I don't know if my pronounciation is wrong, or if everyone around me is just ignorant. Maybe it's a geographical/dialect thing. How do you pronounce it?

I apologize if this has been addressed before. I can't find any thread on it. Such a silly question, but I must know!

pendragon!

 

[Jayderana]

I am pretty sure you are pronouncing it in the correct manner. Not that i pronounce it like that.... i tried people just looked at me like i was crazy so i gave up.

 

[siamesefighter13]

Hi pendragon

I have always called them Betta's which is like bee then tta, I know that sounds weird but I hope it helps you

Siamesefighter13

 

[buggyboutbettas]

Pendragon,
You are pronouncing betta the correct way. Many people pronounce it like the greek letter "beta" but that is not the way it was originally pronounced. The name Betta came from what the Thai calls our lovely fish.

 

[Auratus]

I say it just like beta as in two. "we are doing the beta test on the system today" or something like that. I just go by how the fish store guy says it.

 

[tstenback]

Age old problem isn't it. Here is a link that may help or at least add fuel to the fire.

 

[pendragon]

Now there's a novel idea that hadn't occurred to me - chack the dictionary.

The link tstenback posted and my handy Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary are in agreement. It's pronounced with a 'soft' E as in wet.

Yes! Vindication!



pendragon!

 

[tekknocolor]

I'm glad someone asked because I was just thinking the same thing the other day and forgot to ask! Cool

 

[james..]

Pendragon,
You are pronouncing betta the correct way. Many people pronounce it like the greek letter "beta" but that is not the way it was originally pronounced. The name Betta came from what the Thai calls our lovely fish.

Actully, I thought they called them plakat-thai and Betta splendens was the latin scientific name - I am probably wrong though.

 

[iloveyou]

bet ah ..


bait ah sounds so annoying i hate it ..

 

[steppy104]

poe-tay-toe
poe-tah-toe

puh-tay-toe *me*
puh-tah-toe

i've never heard any one pronounce betta beh tah....i pronouce it the way i've heard everyone around me pronounce it. bay tah.

 

[Sorrell]

I thought about this a lot last night, I have only heard one person say bet-ah in my entire life and it was used in this sentence

"I heard their was some fish I could keep in a bowl, maybe it was called a betta?"

I wonder if it has something to do with demographics, because I have only heard bay-tuh my whole life, but I've always lived here.

Who knows

BTW, how do you pronounce plakat?

 

[bittersweet]

never heard it pronounced beh-tah either..its always bait-tah...lol beh tah sounds weird